Poverty in Japan

[Takechanpoo]

“A child’s future is hugely influenced by where they were born or by their families’ backgrounds, and that often is hard to change solely by their own efforts,” Lee said.

The cycle of poverty over generations is a growing issue in Japan. Children in financially strapped families tend to have low academic achievement and schooling, and hence a low lifetime income, analysts say.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, the relative poverty rate — the percentage of children living under the poverty line — has increased from 10.9 percent in 1985 to 16.3 percent in 2012. The figure translates into roughly 1 in 6 children.

The poverty line is taken as half the median household income of the total population. In 2012, Japan’s poverty line stood at ¥1.22 million annual income per person. For a household with a single parent with two children, the line was roughly at ¥2.07 million, or about ¥170,000 a month.

,given children’s poverty is often linked to single parents.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/0 ... G0F-uR8Buk

[Yokohammer]

This is a serious problem that just seems to be getting worse under Abenomics. Not that it's an easy problem to fix, but it just pisses me off every time Abe steps up to the podium and proudly proclaims how well his economic plan is working. Bullshit. One in six children living under the poverty line, with the number increasing yearly, is pretty good indicator that the country is in deep financial shit. At the same time look at what's happening to the national pension, welfare, health insurance, etc. Those resources are drying up, greater burden is being placed on people who can't afford it, all while the national budget is increasing?!

Not good.

[Wage Slave]

The poverty line is taken as half the median household income of the total population. In 2012, Japan’s poverty line stood at ¥1.22 million annual income per person. For a household with a single parent with two children, the line was roughly at ¥2.07 million, or about ¥170,000 a month.

This calculation doesn't make any sense. Very poor reporting because there is vital detail missing. Anyhow, I would agree that a single parent with two children is in absolute (never mind relative) poverty at 2.07 million pa. I regret to say that a figure of 1 in six doesn't surprise me as much as it should. Anyone who has worked in an elementary school here has seen the signs plain as day. It is enough to make anyone feel like an instant communist.

[Grumpy Gramps]

I think (= no proof/science, just gut feeling) that the system in parts of Europe, where education is ~free makes more sense. With no cost, children get better chances for better education, will then be able to earn a better income, which turns into higher taxes, which pays for education of the next generation.

If a country wants lots of tax-income, they should make sure that they have lots of strong, healthy, well educated, bright slaves citizens; high earners. With a system that puts parents/students into debt for the rest of their lives, that only throws them underneath the poverty line --> low or no tax.

Just like my mama-chari: If I give it some oil and grease sometimes and pump it now and then, it will last me a life time, but if I don't and then ask heavier and heavier tasks of it, it will be on the scrap heap soon enough.

But then, I could be wrong and Abe could be right, idk.

[matsuki]

I think (= no proof/science, just gut feeling) that the system in parts of Europe, where education is ~free makes more sense. With no cost, children get better chances for better education, will then be able to earn a better income, which turns into higher taxes, which pays for education of the next generation.

THIS, but when junior high is an acceptable minimum and you are paying for prestige more than the quality of education, there is lots of room for improvement.

[legion]

But then, I could be wrong and Abe could be right, idk.

I think Abe has got it right, he saw how well the 1% were doing with quantitative easing elsewhere and decided Japan was slacking. Lots of cheap money in the economy, scooped out by a select few, everyone else left with the bill. Banzai actually refers to how long it will take to pay off the national debt. So Abe got it right, for Abe & his cronies.

And the silly fucks will keep voting for him, with his profile poster and let's keep going to hell in a handbasket slogan, just like they voted for Blinky until he almost started a war with China.

I think poverty in Japan is regional, and I guess being poor in the countryside is probably not as crap as being poor in Osaka.

[wuchan]

I think poverty in Japan is regional, and I guess being poor in the countryside is probably not as crap as being poor in Osaka.

There is a bit of truth to this. You always see stories about dying villages in the news because the kids all moved to Tokyo because they wanted a "better" job. The crazy truth is they would probably have a much better quality of life living in the middle of nowhere. Sure they would have slightly smaller pay checks but the cost of living would be much lower, taxes would be lower, children would benefit from smaller class sizes and they would likely have bigger homes. Instead they move to Tokyo, work 14 hours a day and save nothing.